


With Forgiveness

by smilejollyroger



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Major spoilers for the game and the concert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 22:27:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17312984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilejollyroger/pseuds/smilejollyroger
Summary: He’d snuck up behind her on a fool’s chance.





	With Forgiveness

**Author's Note:**

> Please heed the spoiler tag.

They’re in the caves again.

He’d snuck up behind her on a fool’s chance, her elbow driving itself into his chest the first blow he received. He’d stumbled back, tripped, and was flat on his ass before her blade’s upon him. He’d dodged it - _hard roll to the left, don’t give her your back_ \- summoning his own blade to parry as she swings underhand. The block holds true. Barely. Superior strength, reflexes and senses, skill with weaponry he’s yet to reach; it’s all he can do to buy time before she breaks through his defenses.

This fight’s longer. He can’t hope for her to tire, but he’d like to think he’s improved.

His boot skids on some metal shards and he over-balances, arms pinwheeling as he crashes onto the smooth rock. 2B seizes her chance, thrusting her lance through the break. He twists - narrowly avoids getting gored - and kicks out. A lucky strike to her middle. She’s winded. He grips her face. Puts his back into it as he slams her down. She recovers quicker than he did, her leg wrapping around him, and she hauls him off (he’s lighter than her, it’s easy). He’s caged.

Their efforts echo in the quiet; she’s sitting on him now, riding his body as he bucks and writhes beneath her. He fights to keep his hands free, trying to secure a hacking connection, only to end up scrabbling at his neck where it’s being crushed by one of 2B’s own. Her other hand reaches for the hilt of her white blade -

Connection established. He _jumps_ -

And he’s in her systems. Pod 042 goes first, distress signals thrown into disarray as malware rampages through it. It hits the ground alongside Pod 153 with a low thud and 9S leaves it, zipping past projectiles and gunning down every obstacle, every barrier as fast as 2B raises them against him.

_Alert: Oxygen disrupted_ -

He swats it away and dives further down. 2B’s alarm dogs his footsteps; the logic virus Command installed should have overpowered him - had it not been converted into a thrall before their venture.

Her systems are a familiar landscape by this point in his existence, with all the times he meandered his way through her start-up process. Visual centers, auditory - _go down the aisle for locomotion… ah yes! C vertebrae 3 to 5 -_ and he stabs his override into the glowing nodes. The resulting tremor almost dislodges him - _fuck, her respiration pathway -_ and he frantically seals code fragments back into place.

A beat.

Another.

One more.

The tremor recedes.

He loads a diagnostics check, to ensure he didn’t miss anything, and he slowly resurfaces.

9S stares up at his executioner, 2B’s fingers shivering upon his neck as her body involuntarily stops. It’s a simple matter from then on to modify choice bits of code, allowing him to loosen the tension in her fingers enough to gently unwrap them. He reaches for her, levering himself into a sitting position, and eases her other arm down as well.

9S leans his head onto 2B’s chest, breathing out as long as he could go in an attempt to force his heartbeat down to a crawl. He’s more patient with 2B, stroking down her shoulders, her flank, along her thighs, encouraging her to follow the rhythm. They’re too far down for clear reception (for comms as well as black-box detection), and with the malware paralyzing 042 and 153, 2B’s distress signal is constantly bouncing to other areas of the cavern. No one’s going to find them for a while.

What next? He didn’t expect himself to win. He’s tempted to leave, leave 2B in the dark while he makes his escape, but he can’t. It’s fruitless - she caught him once after a three-week chase and he had his black-box signal masked the entire time. Leave her for the machines?

Iron fills his mouth at that thought. 

But what can he do? That question weaves corkscrews the more he thinks about it. He worries his lower lip, scrubbing synthetic blood off with his teeth. Even if he could convince 2B to desert with him, a tall order in itself, they’d both be on the run. They’ll be able to scrounge supplies, but 2B’s body is high-end. Proper maintenance will be hard to come by since it’s usually done at a Resistance base, when they’re on Earth, or in the Bunker. If they desert, those places will become hostile territory. And they won't be able to seek refuge at Pascal’s village either - it’s the first place they’ll look.

9S hugs 2B closer to him, growing despair digging his fingers into the folds of her dress. Waves of grief tug at his conscience; 2B’s, not his own. She’s sorry. She’s sorry. She’s so, so sorry.

He hates this.

He hates how hopeless it is.

He hates that he hasn’t found a solution. He can’t give up yet.

He hates that 2B’s given up.

He hates 2B for giving up.

There has to be a way. It’s only the maintenance they need taken care of, isn’t it? 9S traces the edge of a seam in 2B’s back: one of many turbo boosters running down her back and legs. They’re not unique features in YoRHa units. The engines powering this particular set, however, are the problem, as are her joints and servos. He’s got to be careful.

They’re still connected, 2B and him. She’s rooting around now, question after question rippling through their bond; a devil’s advocate. She knows where he’s going and she doesn’t like it.

“I know, 2B,” he murmured into her skin. “But what other option do we have?”

_“I… I don’t know. I do know this though. What you’re thinking of doing will make things worse. Please, 9S, reconsider.”_

“And then what!? You kill me and we repeat this cycle over again? Is that it? Is that ALL we can do!?”

She recoils. He doesn’t chase her, furiously rubbing at his eyes instead. He’s sorry. He didn’t mean to say it like that. He didn’t mean to hurt her more than he already is.

He thumbs her locomotion nodes back on as he retreats.

He lets her get up. She retrieves her weapons while he removes the malware from the pods. He kneels when he’s done, hands together, head bent. Penitent.

“9S.”

Her heel comes into view. He curls further into himself.

“Nines. Look at me.”

This time, he raises his head. He holds her gaze, not daring to disobey. 2B’s kneeling before him now, clutching her blade. Her free hand cards through his hair. It traces the line of his jaw, dips down, and bares his neck.

“I don’t have an answer to your question, but I believe things will change when we win this war.”

He dies with forgiveness sealing his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> And he wakes up frozen in his cot, scanning for frags in his sleep routines.
> 
> What the fuck was that?
> 
> 9S couldn’t remember much of that… dream, for lack of better words. Just him. And 2B. He rolls onto his side, staring at the familiar silhouette in the next cot breaking up the rays peeking through the tentage. It’s probably just a data mash-up that managed to resolve itself before he conducted his scan. With the number of missions they’ve been working on, the probability of that happening is much higher.


End file.
